Tengoku Chikyu Jigoku Vol Six
by Noizchild Johnson
Summary: Heaven, Earth, and Hell are back for volume six and it's Max-centered. Max continues his quest to find the rest of Tokyo '87. Meanwhile, he finds himself bonding with Taro, his friends, and the angels trapped in the living world. However, Max has some secrets of his own. One call from his past could uproot everyone and push them into the storm waiting to devour them.
1. In Which Max Talks About Earth

In Which Max Talks About Earth

-Max-

(I turned on my camcorder after I managed to light enough candles to see what I was doing. I had no idea this power would be out. However, that would not stop me from documenting this. I leaned in and started my entry.)

I started out with a simple mission. I just wanted to find my old friends. Don't ask me why, I still don't know why myself. I just had this need. Anyway, I started out my search and ended up digging up something more.

Bits and pieces of this come forward to explain what happed. First, there were my friends. Soon some angels came into the picture. Before that, there were these four boys that could "soul travel". I didn't believe it at first. (It still sounds crazy to me.) In fact, I played along just to humor them. Robin was the first on to talk about it. (She's a pretty crazy girl if you ask me.) Again, I brushed it off like it was nothing. I mean, who really believes in the whole out of body experience anyway?

I wouldn't be telling you this if my beliefs haven't changed.

That in itself will take me rambling on and on. I must go back to the children before I go into the whole soul-traveling thing. I already gave you my first impression on Taro, Makoto, and Masayuki. The more I think about, they pretty much became the cables that hook my friends, the angels, and myself together. Like everything else in our story, that role got dumped on them. (Between the angels' potty mouths and short tempers and our laziness, I pity them. Seriously.)

Strangely enough, they don't seem to leave. Any sane and normal people would run away after all of this. But no. They stay around. Probably for the same reason those angels do. What that is, maybe they will do a better job of explaining than I do. (Though, I don't think they will give you a straight answer either.)

Still, we carry on with this whirlwind of a clusterfuck. Why? What else can we do? I don't think any of us can turn back. You won't be able to either once you start to get the whole puzzle together. Why would you stop? You hung around with us for five volumes of this already. Might as well see it through to the end. Anyway, I digress.

Where were we again? Oh yeah, Taro and his friends. They are strange children and that says a lot coming from me. Anyway, I admire them for staying with us as we reach the end of this mad mess.

However, there are some things I cannot tell anyone. I don't know how they will react. Sadly, one phone call from someone I didn't expect pushed me to come out and push us all into the blowing storm wide open at our feet.

Before I get there, I have to go back to the children. I apologize, I do have a little tendency to go off on a tangent and ramble, as you can see. Okay, I promise I will stay focused and focus on Taro, Makoto, and Masayuki.

(I paused for a breath and pushed back my hair from my face.)

Real for this time, I will start… now.

-Eleven Months Ago-


	2. Max and Taro

Max and Taro

-Max-

Taro seems to be the most normal out of the bunch. Even now, I have to admit that it surprises that he still managed to keep his sanity after all of this time. I guess that is due in part to all of the soul-traveling that he does. Still, our crazy is a _special_ breed. Then again, he already had his first taste of crazy when he met Robin.

Speaking of which, I finally met up with the twins. That was rather surreal, if I can tell you the truth. Matt, Robin, and Taro altogether. Whew, man! I have to tell you the story. It goes a little something like this…

I had to run a stupid errand for my mother. I forgot what was I was going to get for her. Anyway, I was heading home when I heard someone squealing. I froze as my brain tried to work out why it sounded so familiar.

 _Wait, is that…?_

No sooner had I turned my head, I noticed a guy trying to drag away a red-haired woman from this brown-haired boy. At first, nothing was connecting in my brain. It just looked like a woman harassing a kid and the guy was pulling her away. However, I couldn't look away. The more I stared, the more I began thinking about this little brown-haired girl who was just as weird as I was. We weirdos hung out together back in grade school. (Okay, there was Matt and the others hadn't come along at the time yet.)

"Let me go, Matty!" the woman wailed. "I was only talking to my buddy!"

"No!" the man said. "You have annoyed him enough today. We are going home."

"No!" she shouted. I tilted my head, blinking. _Matty? The only person I know who says that is…_ I dropped my bags on the ground.

"Robin? Matt?" I asked. The twins and the boy turned when I spoke. The man with short black hair and glasses narrowed his eyes.

"Uh… who are you?" he asked.

"It's me, Maxxie!" I said.

"Huh?"

"We went to grade school together." I could tell by his face that I wasn't getting through. I shifted my focus to Robin. "Robin?" She stared at me before gasping.

"Max?" she asked.

"Yes," I said, nodding. She clapped her hands together.

"Yay!" Robin cheered. Her brother looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Robin?" he asked. She hugged him like he was a rag doll.

"It's Max, don't you remember?" she asked. "He always followed around and did the monkey dance."

"I guess…" he said. It didn't bother me; he'll figure it out soon enough. I turned my attention the young boy slowly backing away from the twins.

"And who might you be?" I asked him. The boy froze with his white and blue bike helmet on.

"This is Taro!" Robin shouted. "He's my friend!" Taro was quick to shake his head behind her. I raised an eyebrow.

"I can see that," I said. I walked up to the boy myself. "Nice to meet you, Taro. My name is Max."


	3. Max and Masayuki

Max and Masayuki

Funny little kid, this one. He wasn't alone the day that I met him either. (These kids seem to draw crowds around them, I tell you.) I was wandering around the bus station one evening. I didn't want to go home at the time. That one is a long story I don't want to get into yet. Anyway, back to those kids. Well, one in particular.

I happened to look up and see two boys and a girl getting off the last bus for the night. For reasons still unknown to me today, I found myself staring at them. One boy had short black hair and glasses. The girl had blonde pigtails and bright green clips in her hair. The other boy had light brown hair and green eyes. I had never seen these kids before in my life. I certainly wouldn't have any interest to get to know them. (They weren't the ones I was looking for after all.) Still…

Suddenly, the girl looked up and noticed me. She turned to the light browned- haired boy and whispered, pointing at me. I didn't catch on until he stared at me as well.

"What are you looking at?" he shouted. I froze as my spine turned stiff. _Oh shit, now what?_ This just sort of happened.

"Uh…" I said. This time, the boy was whispering to him. Light brown hair shrugged. _Aw, damn it! I can tell what they are thinking._ I forced myself to grin and look natural. Like a puppet on strings, I raised my hand and waved at them.

"Hey!" I shouted. I'm seriously not going to go over there, am I? Before I could process that question, I stood inches away from those three children. They stared at me as I tried come up with something say. The girl tilted her head, staring at me.

"Who… are you?" she asked. My mind and body went on autopilot when she first spoke.

"Maxxie!" I said in a strangled yelp.

"Maxxie, huh?" the boy with light hair asked. I nodded my head as if my head was on strings. We all just stood there, saying nothing. What was going on here? Why were we just standing there, staring at each other? Why couldn't I just turn around and walk away? I wish someone speak up. The boy with light brown hair smirked.

"I'm Masayuki," he said. "This is Michiru and this is Baby Doll." The girl glared at him, frowning. Okay, but now what?


	4. Max Meets Makoto

Max Meets Makoto

Oh, man. This one was the toughest out of the three. Like Taro and Masayuki, Makoto wasn't alone. There was some girl with dark black hair. I found them outside of the convenient store. Again, I had to do some shopping for mom. (It's a pain, but I have to do it. I can't explain it right now.) I didn't really want to go home just yet at the time. So, I decided to do a little people-watching.

Just a few feet from me, I spotted boy and a girl standing beside each other. They didn't look like they were together. In fact, they seem to hate each other. I couldn't exactly be sure why just yet. I must have caught the girl's attention because I noticed her cutting a frosty glare at me. I about fell back with a yelp. The boy turned and looked at me as I sat on the ground, moaning.

"Ow," I muttered.

"What were you staring at?" the girl with the dark brown hair asked. I lifted my head with a blank stare.

"Huh?" I asked.

"What were you staring at?" she asked again. I struggled to speak about three minutes. I finally shook my head like an idiot.

"No!" I yelped. The girl glared at me as she marched up with her nostrils flared. My eyes widened as she got closer. _Oh no, she's going to hit me!_ I put up my arms and shield myself. I peeked out from the cracks when nothing was coming. Instead, the girl stood in front of me with her hands from her hips. I stared at her confused. The boy behind her narrowed his eyes at me. I looked up at the sky. _What did I do to get into this situation?_

"And who the hell are you?" the girl asked. I looked at them both as I tried to speak again.

"M-M-M-Maxxie," I said. "Who are you?"

"Why?" the girl asked. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, you asked me my name," I said. "Won't you tell yours and your friend behind you." Instead of an answer, she and the dark-haired boy walked off. I didn't know whether to be disappointed or breathe out in relief.


	5. Max Meets Heaven

Max Meets Heaven

Now we're talking about angels.

I chuckled like there was a knife being held at my back.

Oh, buddy. Where do I begin? They are… (scary, crazy, violent…) special. Yeah… How do I start this without getting murdered in the end?

I looked around the room. They could be listening, but I am alone right now. I think… I'm not as brave as I think I am. I crossed myself and downed the rest of my sake. After a few more breaths, I was ready to start. Okay, I had to take a couple more drinks before starting.

I guess I'll start with the two oldest angels.

Before I do that, I should talk about the angels themselves. Whew! They are crazier than my friends and I. Again, I applaud Taro and his friends for putting up with them. If it was me by myself, I would probably run away screaming. Still, wow!

The angels live in an abandoned apartment complex outside of town. This place looks like it needs a remodel. The windows on the bottom floor are broken, the lawn needs to be mowed and weeded, the building needs a new paint job…

Aw, man! I could go on and on! But you don't want to hear about their crappy apartment. You want to hear about angels. Alright, I will try to get back on track.

I pushed my bangs back from my forehead. Where do I begin again? I lay back on the floor and thought about that question. Where do I start? Where do I start? Where do I start? Where do I…

I sat back up and faced the camera.

"I know where to start," I said. "So, here goes…"

I will tell you about how I met Natalia and Himeko. It goes like this…


	6. Max Meets Natalia and Himeko

Max Meets Natalia and Himeko

Oh man! Where do I begin with this?

Well… They are the two oldest angels of the house. They are pretty crazy. Really crazy.

I jerked my head around in a panic. After a few seconds, I calmed down again. Why would they be watching me? The town is experiencing a power outage in the town tonight. Everyone was told to stay inside until the power came back on. Why would they hear me talking about them and come off me in this situation? That's ridicule, right?

I nervously laughed before I cleared my throat.

Anyway, this is how I met Himeko and Natalia for the first time.

-Himeko-

About three months ago, I was wandering around on the streets of town. I was bored and didn't feel like playing video games again. (I really need to come up with something new to do.) I don't know how many times I walked up and down that road. I just looked down at my feet with my hands stuffed in my shorts pockets.

Up ahead, I noticed a little light as if from the end of a cigarette. I tilted my head, blinking. _Huh?_ Like a moth to the flame, I found myself walking further down the road. I just had to see what that light was. My heart started racing as I started picking up speed. I let my eyes moved towards the left. A cigarette hung out between two plump lips. I didn't stop running towards the light until a pair of dark eyes landed on me.

I didn't know where to look. She seemed to have everything from breasts to legs. Her black fishnet stockings were ripped up and her shorts were just as ripped up. This lady's breasts were about to pop out of her top. Her black and blonde hair was tied back in a messy ponytail. I blinked as I couldn't take my eyes off of her. However, this woman frowned at me as she took her cigarette out of her mouth.

"Like what you see?" she asked.

"Uh…" was I could say. She snubbed out a cigarette against the telephone pole.

"Sorry, you aren't my type."

I stood there trying to figure out what happened as she walked away. _Uh… Huh?_

-Natalia-

Natalia wasn't so confusing or nice. I found her with my old friend, Russell. He seems to have a thing for her. In fact, he keeps trying to run into her every day. I don't know what to make of them.

I happened to see them one day in a convenient store. She was trying to walk away from him, but he kept up the best that he could. That woman with the short light brown hair and turn away, frowning only for him to try and follow her. I found myself starting and tilting my head.

 _Are they playing a game?_ However, something else caught my attention. _Where have I seen that guy before?_ I stepped closer as I walked him follow her as she went to the left again. The more I stared at the man chasing the woman, the more I tried to place him. _High school? Unemployment office? Junior high?_ All of those answers came back as no. The woman clenched her fists at her sides as she gritted her teeth.

"Look, you idiot!" she shouted. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" The man shrugged and shook his head.

"I just want to get to know you better," he said. The woman rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Why the hell are you such a useless idiot?!"

"Please, Natalia?"

"No!" She turned and started to walk away again, but he tried to keep up. My eyes widened as it donned on me.

"Russell?" I asked aloud. The man and the woman stopped and stared at me. He gave me a strange look.

"How do you know my name?" he asked.

"It's me," I said. "Maxxie. We were in grade school together, remember?"

Russell shook his head, confused. "No…"

"I was the monkey boy, remember?"

"Monkey boy?"

"I did the monkey dance, remember?" I held my breath as I waited for a reaction. At last, Russell's face lit up.

"Max?" he asked.

"Yes!" I said. The whole time, the woman was looking back and forth between us, annoyed and confused.

"What the hell is this?" she asked. Russell turned to her with a smile on his.

"He's a friend of mine," he said.

"Hi," I said as I gave her a small wave. The woman rolled her eyes and frowned.

"Freaks," she muttered. (At least, that what I think she said. I hope that's what she said. I hope…) The woman walked away.

"Bye," Russell said, waving. I turned to him, blinking.

"What's with her?" I asked. He only shrugged.

"No idea," he said. Something told me that I would see her again, but I didn't connect her with Himeko until a later date.


	7. Max Meets Yoshiko and Liz

Max Meets Yoshiko and Liz

This just keeps getting stranger as we go along. These two angels aren't above causing heart attacks. They still scare me to this day. I'm sure we are all on good terms, but I'm not too keen on testing that out. In the beginning, we weren't that close believe it or not. I still can't figure out those days for the life of me.

-Yoshiko-

Yoshiko… I shook my head.

Oh. Thinking about her gives me headaches. I can feel my teeth aching already. Wait, give me a minute. I closed my eyes and took in deep breath. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes again. Okay, I'm ready to talk now.

I met Yoshiko around the same time I met up with Lisa. I think it was Lisa, I'm pretty sure it was. It had to be because I can still remember the bruises on my cheeks. How did that happen? Let me back up a little bit.

I forgot exactly where I was going on this particular day. I just remember I was once again trying to avoid my house. (Again, that is a long story I don't wish to get into. Moving on…) I was walking down the road when I hear, "Bitch, give it back!"

That statement was stop loud that I stopped in my tracks. I turned my head to see two women yelling at each other. One of them looked all sweaty in her black tank top and brown shorts as she screamed at the other one in a short blue mini dress. Mini dress looked like she didn't give a shit at tank top. An uneasy feeling began to swirl around in my stomach.

 _I should do something…_ However, instinct told me to stay back. I do not like watching girls fight. Guys fight to prove a point, but girls fight to kill. The best thing would be to turn around and walk away before it gets ugly, right?

I walked towards the women as tank top raised her hand to slap mini dress. I tilted my head, blinking. "Lisa?" She must not have heard me probably because she was too busy getting slapped by mini dress. I covered my mouth as I gasped. Lisa turned to mini dress, glaring.

"You!" she shouted. She slapped mini dress back. I panicked and raced over to them. Unfortunately, I took the brunt of the force from a double punch from both sides.

"Maxxie?" I heard as I dropped to the ground. The rest of that day feels like a blur to me. I'm sorry I can't explain all of it to you. Maybe Lisa or Yoshiko could fill in the blanks. I'm not holding my breath, though.

-Liz-

She scares the most. Remember when I was talking about the day I met Makoto? That was Liz with him. Well, I ran into her again. Yeah.

Sit back with me kids, I am going to try and make it as short as possible. I took in a deep breath. Here I go…

This time, I ran into her on my way to the library. Yes, I was half-hiding and I was going to look up something. Follow me on this, okay? I had just turned the corner when I felt something blow past my right ear. I whipped around with big eyes. _What was that?_ I turned and happened to see that dark haired girl from the convenient store, staring at me. I pointed at her as I began shaking.

"You!" I shouted. That girl gave me a flat look.

"What?" she asked.

"Did you do that to me?"

She gave me a strange look. "What are you talking about?"

"A witch! A witch, I tell you!"

"Did you hit your head or something?"

"Huh? So that wasn't you, blowing on my ear?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She rolled her eyes and groaned. I rubbed the back of my head, laughing nervously.

"I'm sorry, but who are you again?" I asked. The girl with dark brown hair snorted as she pressed her hand to her forehead.

"Liz," she said. "We've met before, unfortunately, you idiot." I raised my eyebrow.

"We have?" I asked. "Where?"

"The convenient store, remember?"

It took me a few seconds before the train docked at the station. "Oh! That girl was you?"

"Yes!"

I frowned as another thought came into my head. "Then… who was that boy with you?"

Liz folded her arms across her chest. "Shit if I know."

"So… he wasn't with you that day?"

"No!"

Basically, this back and forth kept up until she walked away frustrated. But… Why did I get this feeling we were going to see each other once again?


	8. Max Meets Izumi and Baby Doll

Max Meets Izumi and Baby Doll

Finally, we come down to the last two angels. They should be safe to talk about, right? They won't try and kill me in my sleep, right? Right?

I quickly looked around and breathed out.

Good, now they last two first encounters weren't as confusing or nerve-wrecking as the previous four. They did leave me scratching my head. Where do I begin with these couple of gems?

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Give me a minute.

I took in a few more breaths. For a few seconds, I don't move.

Okay, I'm ready… So, here I go.

-Izumi-

I met her and her girlfriend at a noodle bar. You guessed it, I was avoiding my house. (I can't get into detail about my life just yet.) Plus, I hadn't eaten since that morning. I just wanted a hot bowl of ramen and to be left alone. There weren't that many people around that evening. The cook in the back didn't really want to be bothered. I think he wanted to be in his bed right now.

While I was waiting on my late dinner, I took a look around the place. Further down the bar, I noticed these two women looking longingly into others' eyes. I don't really think much about gay couples. Hey that's just them. As long as there is no abuse, it's cool.

I decided to watch them for the heck of it. The woman with the darker hair appeared to look slightly uncomfortable. The blonde pulled her face towards her. She whispered something in her ear. Her girlfriend blushed before the blonde kissed her. Again, I didn't really think much about it.

That's when the blonde looked up at me, glaring.

"What?" she hissed. I put up my hands, shaking my head. By that time, my ramen had come to me. I thanked the cook and ended up eating with my head down until I was finished. I only hoped that she would try and hunt me down later.

-Baby Doll-

I have met her before. She was with those two boys. Baby Doll didn't look too happy to be hanging around them either. I don't think she liked me either. Still, we all crossed paths again the next day.

After being punched by Lisa and Yoshiko, I wandered off in a daze. After what felt like hours, I came across Baby Doll, Masayuki, and Michiro waiting to get on the bus to Tokyo. They turned and saw me walking towards them.

"Hey there," Masayuki said, waving at me. It hurt to try and smile through my smile, but I waved back. Baby Doll tilted her head as she gave me a strange look.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

"Please don't ask," I murmured. Baby Doll continued to stare me down. I still couldn't figure her out. She suddenly shut me a cold glare.

"What are you looking at?" she asked. I shrugged at her, shaking my head.

"You're staring at me!" I shouted. "Why are you staring at me so much?" I waited for her to respond. I half-expected her to yell at me, cuss me out, or flip me off. Instead, she rolled her eyes and turned back to the front when the bus pulled up to the stop. I tilted my head as I watched her and the two boys board the bus.

I still couldn't get her and I can't get her now.


	9. Max and All His Friends in Hell

Max and All His Friends in Hell

And then there are all of my friends. I have been successful with my mission of finding them all, thank you. Some of them I missed them by that much. Like I said before, I have my reasons. Or rather, just made up reasons of why as I went along. It just started out on a whim and I couldn't stop.

They didn't seem upset to see me again. But they are wondering about the why. I haven't been able to tell them until now about why. Mainly because I was trying to figure it out myself. Still, they didn't complain. I think that they wanted to figure things out just like I did.

I rested my head on the floor.

Now that I think about, I think I pulled us into this mess when I met up with Ben again. Oh, Ben. You have been the good guy. He's not as crazy as I am, but he sometimes unintentionally starts things. I know this because of that day in our old school in '92….

I dropped my head and shook it.

Anyway, we all ended up being drawn back to each other through my quest. We seem to have gotten closer than we were when we were kids in Tokyo. We've changed, but we haven't changed at the same time. As I look at all of them—Ben, Julie, Kele, Russell, Gordon, Kris, Lisa, Matt, and Robin—and I feel that I can relax and be myself. I don't have a good life at home. It's a long story I still don't want to get into.

I sighed and rubbed the back of my head.

There I go again. This is about my friends, not my personal problems. I took a deep breath. Right… Where do I start with all of those people? You know what? I'm not going to go back to the beginning. My friends have already have told you the beginning of the story many times. I would just be boring you people with another repeat.

I sat back and looked up at the ceiling. I pursed my lips together and made a face.

I know, I'll drop us in the middle of the story. That will be perfect. I will start us off right in the middle of the story of my friends and I. Oh and the angels and those children will make appearances in this story just like everyone else has in my pervious stories. This will be different, because it's not as awkward or panic-inducing as the others were.

I broke into a little smile.

I think I am ready to tell you more stories. Here I go…


	10. Max's Friends

Max's Friends

They are all good people. Some of them are lazy, but they are good people. Julie is trying to make her life better than it is now. Too bad Kele and Ben keep dragging her down. They have never taken much too seriously in life. I know because I used to joke around with them. The three of them haven't changed since I last talked to them.

Lisa is still as tough as ever. She apologized for hitting me weeks earlier.

"It's okay," I told her. Lisa gritted her teeth.

"It's sounding when you do that," she said. I looked at her as I rubbed my cheek where she had punched me.

"Huh?" I asked. Lisa shook her head at me.

"You are hopeless," she said.

"I'm sorry."

"Shut up."

I lowered my head.

Gordon and Kris are doing well. I ran into them again last week. At first, I was confused on the status of their relationship. I made the mistake of asking them out right.

"So… are you two dating?" I asked. Krista's cheeks turned bright red while Gordon spat out his tea. I looked at both of them with a blank look on my face.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh hell no!" Gordon shouted. He got up and stormed off to his room while Krista hung her head, still blushing. I don't know what I said to cause all of that. I think they would make a cute couple. I guess I could be wrong.

Russell's doing good. He stopped by here yesterday in fact. He and Natalia seem to be getting along a lot better lately.

"How is Natalia doing?" I asked him.

"Good," Russell said. I just had to open my mouth again with this question.

"Are you dating?" I asked. I frowned when I realized what I had asked. I expected him to get offended and glare at me. Instead, Russell shrugged.

"I hope so," was all he said. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"What does that mean?" I asked. His shrug made realized that he was just as weird as ever. I don't even think he cares to grow out of it either. Anyway, onto other things.

Ah yes, the twins. Robin and Matt are doing good too. In fact, Robin's moved back in with her dad and brother. That… still needs little work apparently.

"How is she holding up?" I asked Matt over the phone this morning.

"Not so good, actually," he admitted. "I am starting to remember why she ran away from home in the first place." I lowered my eyes.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I murmured. It reminds me of my current situation. I shook my head.

Anyway, that's everyone. Back to the story…


	11. Three Days Before the Incident

Three Days Before the Incident

"Hey, Ben."

"Yeah?"

"How did all of this happen?"

"I have no idea."

"Ah."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you asking that now?"

"I don't know."

"You had plenty of chances to ask how."

I tilted my head. "When?"

"When we met the angels. When we met those kids. When we met the son of Satan. When all of the shit started to happen."

"Okay, okay. I get what you're saying."

"A better question should be why is this happening to us."

"That I have no answer for."

"What good are you?"

"Hey, I know as much as you do about all of this."

"Fair enough."

"Uh…"

"What is it?"

"Well… what happens now?"

"Huh?"

"What happens to us now? How do we deal with all of this?"

"All of what?"

"This. The angels. All of the weird shit going on. Our futures. Those children. I mean… all of it."

"I don't know."

"Why don't you know?"

"I just don't."

I gave him a weird face. "Well, what good are _you_?"

Ben playfully hit me on the arm. "Aw, shut up, Maxxie." He turned and walked back into the apartment. I rubbed on my arm as I stared at his back.

"Ow," I muttered as the door swung closed. I shrugged my shoulders and followed behind.


	12. Where Do We Stand Now?

Where Do We Stand Now?

I look at all of my friends.

We don't have much else going for us in our lives. Seven of us are NEETs. None of us are in school, have jobs, or have any sort of training. We live at home with our parents too. Only Julie, Ben, and Kele have jobs and are going to a community college.

Even they aren't really happy with their situation.

But why won't we do anything about it? Fear, laziness, or something. It could be a number of things. Either way, it's pretty sad. Yeah…

Even the angels and children think we are pathetic. Yeah…

I am no different. Looking at my life right now depresses me. I _really_ don't have much going on for me. My job searches are a joke. I don't meet the qualifications that most of them require. Still, I need to look for something. I can't stay in that house anymore with my sanity falling apart.

I looked over at my closed bedroom door.

I'm not the only one disappointed with life so far. Lisa is bored with her life and Kris wishes for better things to happen. Julie is bored and wants better things with her life as well. Everyone else is listless. I don't really know what I want.

Still, we want to change. I don't think we know how or where to start. All we do is talk and screw around. As each day goes on, it gets sadder.

I sighed and pressed my hand to my forehead.

I didn't used to have to think about all of this. What changed? Kele asked me what I was going to do with my life.

"I don't know," I said. "I haven't thought about that."

"Oh," he said. I sat up in bed, tilting my head.

"You?"

Kele leaned back in bed. "I don't really know myself."

"You have a job."

"Yeah. But it's not like I want to do IT forever."

"Hm…"

I don't know, maybe we need something to happen. Something big. Something that will throw us off and make us think it out more.

I smiled and shook my head.

You know how that saying goes? Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

I rubbed my forehead.

Yeah…


	13. Max in the Middle of the Storm

Max in the Middle of the Storm

-Max-

I lay back on the floor of the angels' lobby. How long has it been? Ten hours? Three days? I do remember there was storm warning heading towards Suiten about two days ago. It sounded like it would be pretty bad too. Somehow, I bet they weren't thinking about it on this scale. What happened?

I put my hands over my eyes. Why do all of these questions surrounding us have to have a long-ass explanation or just confuse the crap out of me?

"I'm sorry?" I heard someone ask. I looked over and saw Ben walking towards me.

"Oh, it's you," I said. Ben walked over and knelt down to the camera.

"That thing still have battery life?" he asked. I looked at the camera in front of us.

"Oh, I guess so," I said. "Has anything changed outside?"

"No."

"Still raining?"

"Yep."

"Ah." I sat up, looking at him. "How long has it been?" Ben shrugged and sat down with me. I titled my head.

"Did you want something?" I asked. He took a moment to think about that. I narrowed my eyes at him. Oh carp, the trains are going to take a minute to arrive at the station. My eyes rolled up to the ceiling.

"Ah," he said. "Natalia was asking where you were." I gave him a strange look.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, we're all about to eat. I was spent to come and get you." I nodded once I understood what he was saying.

"Okay," I said. I stood up and followed Ben into the kitchen area.

Everyone sat at the table. Couples all sat with their respective lovers. Ben took his place by Julie and I by Kele. Natalia rose to her feet, her hand to her round belly. She raised her can of juice.

"I toast this to our last night," she said. Groans all surrounded the table.

"Relax, relax," the main angel said. "I mean being holed up in this apartment. Tomorrow will probably be all nice and sunny."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Makoto asked.

"Humor me with this, okay?" Natalia asked as forced herself to grin. Her mood lightened up. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" we all said, raising our cans. As we ate our meal of cup of noodle with leftover pork, I couldn't help but take in the bond that will shared. Sure, there are many unanswered questions left and plenty of confusion to go around, but it feels for some reason. However, I began to frown.

A peace like this can't last long, right? Once this storm ends, what happens? Will we all stay together or go our separate ways again?

I hate to find out.


End file.
